I have a feeling this Ft Hood shooting is a new 9/11, and maybe bigger.

I fear our all volunteer army has become an army of sub militias, skin heads, drug cartels, religious nutters, and sleeper taliban cells, and known unknowns.

Anyone else as worried about this as I am? A rogue army......

all.

I am seeing the need for far better treatment of and respect for the men and women who do serve, and not least, their families.

GOP Chairman Pro Tem Beck told me so.

It's not a new 9/11, no matter what your "feelings" may be trying to tell you.

Tragic.... but also questioning as to why we are there.

.

whether he was a patsy or acting alone, he was still a disgruntled former Marine.

you interfaced with our troops? I work with them every day and I don't see anything but great kids. Sure, the military has it's problems just like in civilian life, but to classify them as "rogue" is just not true.

What you have is the occasional lone wolf nut. It's hardly systematic (or not at all).

I am not questioning your sincerity, but this is what I expect to hear from the RW loonies at work...

a bunch of poor unemployed kids trying to get by the best they can is more like it

bravery men and women in military ranks exhibit. There is also the bravery of the hearth, the home front, the preservation of connectedness, the dignity of raising kids against steeper odds.

This story is violent and tragic and represents loss. I would like to see the nation's columnists and other public figures summon the respectful attention of people in a way that honors both the military bravery and the nobility of navigating everything else.

The part of this post that is left out is the specific association with the Fort Hood tragedy, and it's left out because I don't really know a damn thing about it yet. We'll know in a few days a bit more.

I know Texas, but where in TX.?

Near Killeen, TX.

We hear always about the friendly fire deaths, suicides, PTSD, massacres of civilians, rapes of civilians and military and now this and it isn't hard to imagine that our military is a bunch of fucked up losers. But they aren't - they may not be all our best and brightest, but they are regular people in most respects and they have their breaking points. Having said that, I am extremely curious about the shooter, his job as a mental health professional, his religion, his imminent deployment etc. and how they all tie together, or if indeed they do. DU is not welcoming speculation right now so I won't speculate, merely wonder.

It's like cops, doctors, lawyers, aircraft controllers, pilots. We don't hear about them unless they fuck-up or do something extraordinary.

But they are out there everyday, our best men and women doing their jobs for us.

with the weight of trauma our military is forced to endure. This guy was a psychiatrist on a base that trains & deploys our soldiers to the war zones. I can't help but wonder how many times some of these "kids" (yes, many of them are sooo young) have been deployed already with little time home. I suspect our military has become a pressure cooker & cage from which these guys cannot escape until their 4 yrs are up. Can you imagine the stress of that alone, not to mention some of the horrors these guys are witnessing! This doctor was tasked with trying to help them cope with this....when you deal with lots of this day-in & day-out, it's sure to take its toll. I think he maybe just snapped.

I'm sure the RW will try to make something of his heritage, or name, etc. Anything to smear & stir things up--that's just their modus operandi.

who decide they liked the free ride to med school and the stipends but didn't really intend to have to fulfill their service in exchange.

whore for some more fear-mongering.

This is not going to be another 9/11.

Long before the American media did.

they did raise the recruitment age in many cases and I've heard of them allowing folks with limited criminal records in too.

No, I don't feel the Ft Hood shooting is like a new 9/11. The Ft Hood shooter didn't want to deploy to the Middle East to be involved in a war there. He strongly objected to our involvement there and wants Muslims to, "Fight back against the aggressor." I've heard he was "happy" and the AR recruiter shootings.

I'm not sure why he didn't merely take the stance of a conscientious objector and simply refuse to deploy.

He could claim status - if he'd thought about it enough in advance - but he'd just as likely wind up there anyway in a "non-combat" role in a combat zone, without a weapon or body armor. Not a great trade.

He might've done better going AWOL, and taking the consequences. There are a number of ways of dealing with the problem, and there are GI counseling centers and hotlines available for people in his shoes. As a psychiatrist on that base, I'm surprised if he didn't know about the options or the resources.

I'm more amazed that he didn't use the mental health services to avoid being sent over. That's a much stronger tactic and he definitely would've qualified as unfit if he was at the point of shooting people up. There's no way he didn't know about that route.

have just blown his own brains out and not become a mass murderer.

Why... It's a Jump To Conclusions Mat... Of course!

like the guy who shot up his alma mater: Virgina Tech.

:banghead:

NOT a rogue army.

:eyes:

Good Lord people, get a grip.

...but rest assured, you are dead wrong.

It's one psycho who lost it and went postal. Very tragic, but not up there with the carnage of 9/11.

But I'll bet you the freepers, bigots, neo-cons and other various sociopaths will milk it for everything they can get...

...I think you're wrong. I hope you're wrong.

Military people are good people even if they have to endure the worst humanity has to offer.

anywhere close to the impact that 9/11 had on the nation, tragic though this shooting spree was.

in the service right now. This is just another huge problem Obama has inherited from *

If you haven't read the article in the current Rolling Stone about Fort Carson, do so. The reporter was on Rachel's show last night.

There are a lot of powder kegs getting ready to blow.

It's been enlightening reading the posts on this thread that point out reams of insanity that has resulted from military service throughout recorded history.

And it makes sense that this would happen. I think it's the exception, but mental illness does manifest itself in many different ways -- PTSD, depression, anxiety -- and in the case of this tragedy, like delusion and loss of control. Being a soldier is unique, and carries with it its own pitfalls as well as benefits for some.